Sufix Performance Braid

It is coming to near 20 years now since I first started using braided fishing lines on a regular basis. While I’ve met some anglers who prefer mono, braid is certainly my preferred choice for most applications.

I remember being awestruck the very first time I used braid. It was incredibly smooth and my casting distance instantly improved giving the added advantage of reach. The next most obvious difference was the sensitivity factor. Being able to feel the lure or live bait moving enables us to fine tune our fishing. We’ll know when the lure is not swimming true either because its hook has gotten caught on the line or it is snagged onto something thus alerting us to retrieve the lure back quickly instead of wasting our effort when no fish is going to bite it.

Another deadly use is knowing if the lure is hitting bottom or structures which is ever so useful when luring because we want the lure to bump on stuffs. The sensitivity of braided fishing lines also helps when dropping live-baits to the bottom. Some lines are so sensitive that when we hold the line with our fingers we can sometimes feel the sea current flowing and also know if the live bait is still alive or active and when it is time to reel it in for fresh bait.

The thin diameter of braided lines also generates less drag and lesser drag means lighter weights are required to reach bottom either baiting or jigging.

Interestingly I still have my first braided line, which you can see in the picture below. The Spiderwire Spectra 2000 Micro Filament Line was purchased way back in 1993 (I think) and I was somewhat surprised there is still lines spooled in it!

It is touted as Soft as Silk and Stronger Than Steel among other things. You can see that it uses the old Spiderwire logo on its packaging and it has yet to be acquired by Rapala.

Could any reader tell me if this Spiderwire is among the first generations of braided or super fishing lines?

So this brings us to the Sufix Performance Braid. Though not that new a product this is my first time spooling it onto my reels.

The yellow is absolutely stunning and it will help knowing where my line is pointing in the heat of the action. But the Sufix Performance Braid seems to have one glaring issue and that is the color seem to fade quite fast after seeing action (Which brings to mind Alan’s Spiderwire Code Red which faded just as quickly). How fast? Well, so fast in fact it left bits and pieces of yellow on the floor after I spooled it on the first time!

First impression though is great. Knot strength is good and being 6-strand (exclusive Y6 Digital Braiding®) it is much rounder and smoother than PowerPro, which is 4-strand. So I’d imagine the new Berkley Fireline could just be even smoother at 8-strand? I wonder.

I will put the Sufix Performance Braid through its pace by spooling it for casting, jigging and also some Billfish-ing action. I expect it to last at least 2-3 seasons.

We shall see.

300 yards of Performance Braid about to be spooled into a Shimano TLD25 with 40 pound mono backing.

Connection is through FG knot.

Love the Hi-Vis Yellow but not its lasting quality (below) which is not a big issue. Really?

Related Posts

Reader Interactions

Comments

First of All i want to thank you for this great fishing website!, i been reading few times and now is on my Bookmark.
I hope some day sign again in your comments, and keep the effort of keeping this Page updated as i keep my site of http://www.mazatlanfishingreport.com
My home country is Mexico specific in Mazatlan, the sailfish & mahi mahi Capital, and i want to invite everyone to come our Country. also if you have time for Fishing in Mazatlan you will be impressed about our fishing action.
Let me know if you like to post articles about our great mazatlan fishing, in your site.
thank you and keep tight lines.
Job O.http://www.mazatlanfishingreport.com

Braided lines tend to slip on the spool, especially so when the lines are wet. That means the lines on your spool will rotate and come out of your reel even though your drag is locked tight and the spool itself is not rotating. When that happens, the fish you catch will just easily swim off into the horizon or snags!

The mono backing will prevent the above “slip-ups”.

In recent times, reel manufacturers have introduced spools made especially for braided lines supposedly removing the need for mono backing.

1) Just enough mono backing to cover the spool – to prevent slipping. The rest of the line that sits on the mono will be braid.

2) For bigger reels – lots of mono backing and just 100 metres or so of braid. This will save you money as braids are much more costly than mono. If casting, freshwater or shallow water fishing – we hardly ever see much lines out of the spool anyways so you still get the benefits of using braided line minus the cost of perhaps spooling 300 metres of braid onto the reel.